Hook fastener for furniture webbing



Feb. 2, 1965 L. D. WALTER 3,167,335

HOOK FASTENER FOR FURNITURE WEBBING Filed Nov. 18, 1963 Leona/0'0. Wa/zer INVENTOR.

United States Patent 3,167,836 IIOGK FASTENER FOR FURNITURE WEBIEING Leonard I). Walter, 1275 NW. 33rd St., Miami, Fla. Filed Nov. 18, 1963, $21. No. 324,4?8 1 Claim. (Ci. 24-265) The present invention relates to hook fasteners used .for securing webbing bands to side, seat and back rest members of furniture of different types and kinds, and in particular, furniture formed principally of frames of angular or square materials, principally of aluminum.

In angular or square material furniture of conventional construction, such as chairs, chaise lounges and the like, the webbing bands for the seats or back rests are often in the form of interwoven bands or parallel bands, the ends of which are secured to parallel or other support members. A most common method of fastening the said bands to the said support members being with screws into holes placed into the ends of said bands and then into holes placed into and along the said support members. Another method of fastening webbing bands to support members is by using specially made clips, which are fastened to the webbing band ends by U-shaped receptacles and punching dentures into the sides of the U-shaped receptacle to squeeze them into holding the said webbing bands in place, the said clip being then attached to the angular frame or previously mentioned support members by having a preformed shape which fits over the aforementioned support member, t-he said webbing band being given one warp around the said support member which covers it over to view and also tends to hold it in place. The aforementioned method of attaching webbing bands to furniture frames possess many disadvantages and drawbacks. They are relatively expensive and require considerable time to apply. There are also other means of fastening webbing bands to frames, but they leave much to be desired.

It is thus a principal object of the present invention to provide an improved, yet inexpensive and simple arrangement for securing webbing bands to the structural members of articles of furniture.

It will become apparent from a reading of the following description of the above and other objects of the present invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein- FIGURE 1 is a cross sectional view of a webbing band attached at each of its ends to support members in a working position and embodying, substantially, the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the present invention placed in working position on a small section of a support member, but without a webbing band end being attached to it, thus for the'sole purpose of showing the method of engagement or biting action into the support member by the sharp hook ends, when said ends are caused to be forced against the said support member;

FIGURE 3 is a top view of the present invention showing its method of holding webbing band ends;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional side view showing the method of holding the webbing band end by the present invention;

FIGURE 5 is a perspective blown up view of the present invention alone, showing its shape, features and construction details.

Referring again to the drawings which illustrate a preferred form of the present invention as applied to con- ,ventional practice of fastening webbing bands to support members of conventional furniture frame members, FIG- URB 1 designates, generally, an application of a webbing band 3 to support members 1 and 2, being positioned at opposite ends of the webbing band 3, respectively, said support members being, preferably, of angular or square 3,l7,36 Patented Feb. 2, I965 formed material. Carried by and between support members 1 and 2, respectively, the aforementioned webbing band is secured to support members I and 2 in a manner which will be set forth hereinafter. Webbing bands, in general use, consist of flexible and commonly of stretchable materials, and are not confined to any one consistency, however, for present purposes, a preferred webbing band would be one now commonly used in the trade, of fairly thick type of vinyl plastic which will stretch when heated and will have a tendency to return to its original shape when cool, or when the tension is released from it.

In a sense, the present invention contemplates the provision of an improved webbing band fastener, for fastening webbing bands to furniture members, said fastener being comprised of a flat body portion 6 which would also serve as an anchoring or holding stop means for retaining the ends of webbing bands 3 by having as integral parts of the whole fastener 6, legs 10 formed from and extending laterally from said body 6 to pass through holes 8, in and through the webbing band 3 near its end, then the legs 9 bent to form a longitudinal portion to the body 6 in one direction only, as clearly shown in FIGURE 5. The legs 9 extend long enough to reach beyond a reasonable distance from the end of the webbing band 3 to allow ample holding body between the holes in the webbing band ends and the termination of said ends Where said legs 9 bend again in a lateral direction to the body portions 6 to become leg portion 5. In the drawing (FIG. 5) said lateral leg portions 5 are shown as being in the same lateral direction from body portion 6 as lateral leg portions It but in a different plane. Said leg portions 5 are formed to reach far enough over the side or edge of an angular or square member to have ample holding surface for the sharp tips 4 that are formed at the terminals of leg portions 5, said tips being formed in a reverse direction and directed in a horizontal plane to leg portions 9 but being abruptly terminated after very short and sharp tips are formed, thus the portions comprising 9, 5 and 4, respectively, become similar to hooks, which in reality, the present invention is. The sharp tips 4 become anchors to secure the fastener 6 to support members such as 1 and 2 in FIGURE 1. In the normal process of installing webbing bands 3 using fasteners 6 on support members 1 and 2, the webbing bands are heated just enough to cause them to be easily stretched by hand, such stretching, as previously explained, creates a constant and continuous tension in the webbing band, after cooling, which tension remains until such time as the webbing band may be released, but since the said webbing band is caused to remain in a stretched position on said support members, said tension is transferred to the anchor body of said fastener which, being of unit construction, transfers the pull or pressure to the sharp end tips 4, which in turn bite into the body of the support members 1 and 2. By wrapping the webbing band 3 one complete turn around the support members 1 and 2 the tension in the webbing band 3 is again transferred to the sharp tips 4 by directly passing over and pressing against them, which firmly locks them in a working position into the support members 1 and 2. The previously described method of applying the present invention should not be construed to mean that it is the only means whereby the present invention may be applied, but that it is a preferred method.

An extended portion 7 of the main body 6 as shown in FIGURE 5, is a means of retaining or suppressing the ends of the webbingbands 3 by holding said ends in the same plane as other portions of Webbing bands 3 and with the plane of the body 6 by the fastener at that area. This is more clearly illustrated in FIGURES 1, 3 and 4. Portion 7 also helps to stabilize fastener 6 and to make a smoother outer surface on the Webbing 3 where the wrapped aroundportion passes over and covers up the person sitting on it or leaning back on it, is transmitted to the fastener tips 4 through the fastener body 6, thus serving an advantageous purpose by locking the fastener tips 4 more securely and deeply into the supporting members 1 and 2. Since the fastener is to be preferably made of adequately strong materials, there can be no unrolling or straightening out of the leg portions 165, 9, 5 and 4,

7 thus preventing the releasing of the tension in the webbing band 3. The sharp tips 4 also serve as a retarding effect by discouraging or preventing skidding, since they have a strong tension placed on them by the wrapped over webbing band 3, driving said sharp tips into the body of the support members 1 and 2, thus locking them into a desired permanent position.

The locked position of the fastener 6 to the support members 1 and 2 serves to retain the webbing bands 3 in a uniform position on the frame members thus contributing to stability, utility and eye appeal. The sharp tips 4 of the fastener 6 serve to lock in position both the tension of the webbing bands 3 and. also any side skidding v 4 ferred embodiment of the present invention, it is apparvent that numerous alterations and omissions may be made without departing from the spirit thereof.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is; a

A fastener for securing the ends of a flexible webbing b and to a support comprising an upper band engaging portion having a laterally extending centrally disposed tongue adapted to overlie an associated band and laterally extending side portions disp'osed on opposite sides of and separated by the said tongue and struck-downwardly from a longitudinal edge of the said upper portion a distance substantially equal to the thickness of the said band and merging into laterally extending generally planar support engaging portions lying in a plane generally parallel to the plane of the upper, band engaging portion and terminating in reversely bent downwardly extending support engaging hooks, said. side portions being adapted to be positioned within apertures formed in an end portion of the said associated webbing band when the said band end portion is disposed between the said upper band engaging portion and the planar support engaging portions so that when the said band end is wrapped about the said support and an associated fastener tension in the band will cause the said hooks to firmly frictionally engage the said supportandthe tongue to frictionally engage the portion of the band thereunder.

References Cited by the-Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,127,234 8/38 Reiter. 7

2,251,644 8/ 41 Tinnerman 2473.7 2,623,290 12/52 Kampel.

3,088,517 5/63 Schwartz et al 24265.3 X

DONLEY J. STOCKING, Primary Examiner. 

